1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to toilet systems, and, more particularly, to waterless portable toilet systems.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art includes portable sanitation systems and methods having waterless disposal of waste. Additionally, it is known in the prior art to include bags for receiving the waste from the toilet device.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,671,906, issued Mar. 16, 1954, invented by Pott, for a liner for sanitary closets, describes a sanitary closet comprising: a bowl with a hole in the bottom; a supply of tubular film around the bowl and extending upwardly; and means of drawing the film downwardly through the bowl. It further describes sealing jaws which are operated by a handle to seal an area of the film on itself, securing the waste in a bag formed by the film, and drawn downwardly through the hole of the bowl.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,401,409, issued Sep. 17, 1968, invented by Ekrut, for a waste disposal unit, describes a unit for sanitary disposal of human waste, especially for use in vehicles such as buses, airplanes, trailers, campers, and the like. The waste disposal unit includes: a housing; means adjacent to the top of the housing for suspending in open-mouth position and impermeable heat-sealable waste-receiving bag of thermoplastic film; spaced apart compression means within the housing moveable for squeezing together the sides of the bag adjacent the open end; heating means for sealing the top squeezed together portion of the bag, and a storage means disposed within housing below the sealing means for receiving sealed bags of waste by gravity.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,452,368, issued on Jul. 1, 1969, invented by Couper, for a portable waste disposer, describes a portable waste dispenser which may be used as a portable toilet which utilizes an elongated plastic bag which is continuously sealed as increments of the bag are passed through the toilet. The seal mechanism includes two pairs of elongated rubber rollers spring-biased together and the amount of elongated plastic tubing that is included in the dispenser is determined by the desired number of “flushes”.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,648,302, issued on Mar. 14, 1972, invented by Winters, for a portable waterless water closet, describes a portable waterless water closet in which the waste materials are sealed off and stored for subsequent removal in a disposable bag stored in a magazine beneath the seat. The water closet includes a mechanism that grasps and pulls successive lengths of the bag from the magazine while also providing a double seal to isolate waste materials in the storage compartment from the unused portion of the bag.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,665,522, issued on May 30, 1972, invented by Pactosan et al., for an apparatus for collecting solid or liquid wastes, describes a toilet apparatus for collecting solid or liquid wastes in which one sealed end of a hose of thin, tight, flexible material is adapted to be passed down into a container for receiving the waste. A sealing mechanism comprising welding jaws that press a portion of the hose between them and seal the hose at that position by welding.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,693,193 and 3,746,159, issued on Sep. 26, 1972 and Jul. 17, 1973 respectively, for a portable sanitary toilet and for a cartridge package for a sanitary toilet respectively, each invented by May, describe a portable toilet which collects waste in an elongated tube-like plastic bag and further describes a pair of pincher arms below the toilet seat that pinch the opposite sides of the tube together to form an odor-tight seal. The bag is advanced into the waste chamber through depression of a foot crank. The '159 patent describes a cartridge package containing the elongated plastic bag for the sanitary toilet.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,058,218, issued Oct. 22, 1991, invented by Lobbert, for a waterless toilet, describes a waterless toilet for use with containers that accommodate waste and can be sealed tight, including: a seat having multiple depressions, each depression accommodating one container; and means for rotating the seat such that the depressions assume different positions—a first position with a magazine of unused containers and a mechanism for dispensing a container into each depression, a second position at which the toilet can be used, a third position with a magazine that supplies lids for sealing the used containers and a mechanism for dispensing lids to each container, and a fourth position with means for removing a container from each depression and forwarding the container to a waste depot.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,487, issued on Oct. 5, 1999, invented by Hawkins et al., for a dry toilet, describes a dry toilet that uses a substantially continuous sheet of disposable bowl lining material to convey the toilet waste out of the toilet bowl for disposal and an apparatus for holding, advancing, separating, and releasing successive portions of the lining sheet.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,052,842 and 6,212,701, issued May 16, 2000 and Apr. 10, 2001 respectively, and WIPO Pub. No. WO1997027795, each invented by He, for a waterless closet assembly, comprises: a closet having an inlet and an outlet; an annular seat disposed over the inlet of the closet; a tubular hose having a first portion disposed exteriorly of the closet and a second portion extending upwardly over the annular seat and downwardly through the outlet of the closet; and advancing means for advancing the hose upwardly over the annular seat and downwardly through the closet. Furthermore, these documents describe the advancing means comprising a pair of rollers to pull the tubular hose downwardly and clamping plates to clamp the tubular hose. The '701 patent further describes an automatic dry toilet that has a pedal for controlling the open-closed pulling mechanism.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,931,684 and 7,080,418, issued Aug. 23, 2005 and Jul. 25, 2006 respectively, for a bed or wheelchair having an integral refuse disposal system, each invented by Henegar, describe a refuse disposal systems comprising: a seat member; an annular well holding an annular cartridge of compressed disposable tubing positioned within the annular well; and disposable tubing extending upwardly from the cartridge over the seat member and downwardly through the seat's opening. After use, the fresh tubular material is pulled from the cartridge and the waste is tied off or sealed in the used portion of the tubular material.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,562,400, issued on Jul. 21, 2009, invented by Graham, for mobile equipment for non-ambulatory people, describes a commode adapted to assist non-ambulatory person to independently access said commode, the commode comprising: a dispenser of tubes adapted to provide a tube within a basin to receive and enclose the waste products; a lower baffle that is capable of clamping an open top of the tube after receiving the waste products; and a cutting tool to cut individual bags from the tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,849,527, issued on Dec. 14, 2010, invented by Nochizuki et al., for a toilet apparatus with processing material, describes a toilet apparatus comprising: a packaging member comprising a long, flexible and folded continuous cylindrical member set in position surrounding the toilet bowl and below the toilet seat, the packaging member being adapted to receive excrement produced by the user and subsequently sealed at an opening thereof and transferred downward in the toilet bowl; processing material for absorbing liquid and semi-solidifying the excrement; a mechanism to feed processing material into the packaging member alongside the excrement; and a sensor to automatically supply the processing material into the bowl when the user sits on the toilet seat or stands up from the toilet seat.
US Pub. No. 20090255045, published Oct. 15, 2009, invented by Sakurai, for excretion packaging type portable toilet apparatus, describes an excretion packaging portable toilet adapted for: packing excretion produced at a time into a flexible bag-like container; hermetically sealing the pack; and dropping the pack into a storage section under the main toilet body.
PCT Pub. No. WO2009129638, published Oct. 29, 2009, invented by Luscher et al., for a water-free toilet system, describes a toilet device comprising: a toilet seat; a film tube for collection of waste; a closing device below the toilet seat for using a shutter to close a bag from the film tube at certain intervals; and a conveyor system for moving closed bags to a collection container.
PCT Pub. No. WO2011113164, published Sep. 22, 2011, invented by Luscher et al., for a waterless toilet system, describes a toilet device comprising: a seat; a film tube under the seat, provided for receiving products of human excretion and closed on one end; means for closing the film tube to form a closed bag; and means for detaching the closed bag to produce once again a film tube that is closed at one end. This publication further describes a catching device for receiving detached closed bags.